530  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.  {AmSiSdaTm' 
ipecacuanha  that  followed,  Mr.  T.  P.  Blunt  suggested  a  modification  in  the 
present  method  of  assaying  the  wine  for  alkaloid  by  means  of  Mayer's  solution. 
It  consisted  in  adding  a  saturated  solution  of  mercuric  chloride  in  potassium 
chloride  in  excess  to  the  wine  previously  evaporated  to  remove  the  alcohol, 
and  then  after  filtering,  taking  the  quantity  of  a  centinormal  solution  of 
mercuric  chloride  that  can  be  added  to  the  filtrate  before  a  permanent  precipi- 
tate is  produced  as  the  measure  of  the  quantity  of  mercuric  chloride  that  has 
been  removed  from  the  originally  saturated  solution  by  combination  with  the 
alkaloid.  , 
Strychnine  and  Morphine.  Hypophosphites. — Mr.  H.  W.  Jones  called  attention  to 
the  possible  value  of  hypophosphorous  acid  as  a  solvent  of  strychnine  and 
morphine.  But  these  alkaloids  dissolve  readily,  according  to  the  author,  in 
dilute  hypophosphorous  acid  to  form  solutions  which  can  be  obtained  neutral, 
or  only  very  faintly  acid,  by  using  a  slight  excess  of  the  alkaloid.  The  hypo- 
phosphite  of  strychnine  was  described  as  a  very  stable  salt  in  solution,  suitable 
not  only  for  hypodermic  injection,  but  as  a  substitute  for  the  hydrochlorate  in 
the  official  liquor  strychninse  which  sometimes  causes  trouble  in  cold  weather. 
The  ready  solubility  of  morphine  in  the  dilute  acid  allows  of  a  solution  of  1  in 
6,  or  even  stronger,  being  easily  prepared 
On  a  Methyl  Chloride  Apparatus. — The  object  of  the  next  note,  by  Mr.  Martin- 
dale,  was  to  bring  under  the  notice  of  the  Conference  a  convenient  little  appa- 
ratus for  holding  chloride  of  methyl,  which  has  been  recently  introduced  into 
medical  practice  as  a  refrigerator.  This  apparatus  consists  of  a  "  thermo- 
isolator  "  made  of  a  glass  test-tube  fused  at  the  top  to  a  larger  surrounding  tube 
after  the  interspace  has  been  first  rendered  vacuous.  The  vacuum  acting  as  a 
non-conductor,  the  methyl  chloride  may  be  kept  in  the  jacketed  test-tube  for 
some  time  without  undergoing  the  volatilization  which  takes  place  almost  im- 
mediately when  the  liquid  is  released  from  pressure  under  ordinary  conditions. 
It  is  thus  rendered  acccessible  for  saturating  tampons  for  direct  application  to 
any  part  of  the  body  and  for  similar  purposes,  when  it  is  not  desired  to  apply 
the  refrigerator  as  a  spray. 
On  the  Root  Bark  of  Euonymus  atropurpureus,  by  Messrs.  W.  A.  H.  Naylor  and 
E.  M.  Chaplin.  This  paper  represented  the  useful  class  of  work  which  con- 
sists in  repeating  the  experiments  of  previous  observers.  In  this  instance  the 
authors  regulated  their  proceedings  by  the  experiments  on  euonymus  root 
bark  made  by  Mr.  W.  T.  Wenzell,  as  recorded  by  him  in  a  paper  published  in 
the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy  in  1862.  They  report  that  they  have 
separated  from  the  bark  an  unidentified  crystallizable  glucosidal  principle,  to 
which  they  have  given  the  name  "atropurpurin,"  Wenzell's  "  euonymin," 
citric,  tartaric  and  malic  acids,  neutral  fixed  oil,  crystalline  free  fatty  acid  or 
acids,  an  acrid  and  pungent  principle,  yellow  and  brown  resins,  bitter  extrac- 
tive and  wax.  Their  results  differ  from  Wenzell's  chiefly  in  that  instead  of 
asparagin  they  obtained  atropurpurin,  which  contains  no  nitrogen;  besides 
which  they  got  bitter  extract  instead  of  a  soft  resin,  free  fatty  acid  in  place  of 
crystalline  resin,  brown  resin  soluble  instead  of  insoluble  in  ether,  and  an  acrid 
pungent  principle  that  Wenzell  failed  to  detect. 
Misconceptions  about  Lithia. — Mr.  Siebold  referred  to  the  great  faith  shown  by 
some  therapeutists  in  the  superior  solvent  action  of  lithia  upon  uric  acid,  and 
pointed  out  that  this  faith  extends  not  only  to  the  carbonate  and  citrate,  which 
